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Punchy Chéng

#f27b30
Notes

Punchy Chéng (#F27B30) is a true orange with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (23°, 88%, 57%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary azure. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#f27b30
RGB
rgb(242, 123, 48)
HSL
hsl(23, 88%, 57%)
HWB
hwb(23 19% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(70.8% 0.169 48.7)
HSV
hsv(23, 80%, 95%)
LAB
lab(64.37% 41.05 58.89)
LCH
lch(64.37% 71.79 55.12)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 49%, 80%, 5%)

Etymology

Punchy
adjective

A modern adjectival form of punch, to strike sharply. Used as a color word since the early twentieth century for hues that read as highly contrasting and visually loud. Punchy red, punchy yellow: the implication is full saturation combined with optical impact. Sits across the bold and bright buckets, near vivid and striking.

Chéng
noun

The Chinese word for orange — both the fruit and the color, used in classical poetry for the autumn ripening of citrus orchards in Fujian and Guangdong. The color refers to a ripe Chinese mandarin: a saturated, slightly red orange with the satin finish of citrus rind. Slightly warmer than tangerine, the Chinese cousin of mikan and daidai.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#f27b30
Original
#9d8c25
Protanopia
#baa62d
Deuteranopia
#ff616c
Tritanopia
#8f8f8f
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon White
2.74:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
7.65:1

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